eidi Klum recently went on an
Italian getaway to enjoy the
sun, the sand — and possibly a new
man? While on the family getaway to
Sardinia, the Project Runway host,
39, was spotted getting close to her
bodyguard of four years, Martin
Kristen, sparking rumours.

N

ew Zealand were 29 without loss in their second
innings at lunch for an overall
lead of 41 on the third day of
the second and final Test.
India were earlier bowled out
for 353 in their first innings.

PG 28

A TRAVELLER'S TALES

A

chance encounter with a
friend led her to visit an
orphanage in India and now
teacher-turned-travel
entrepreneur Vicki Aubert is out
to spread some smiles in the City.
She spoke to us about Cherish
Foundation and how citizens can
help.
PG 10

PG 30
WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 25°C

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 HYDERABAD
N SHIVA KUMAR

32 PAGES

`3

ON SUNDAY

THE

HORSEMEN
The City’s Polo
season kicked-off
in style at the
Bison Polo Club
in Secunderabad
with a cracker of
a match. The
Sport of Kings is
enmeshed in the
culture of
Hyderabad
thanks to its
pomp and pace.
REPORT ON PG 29

OF

HYDERABAD

2

CITY
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

HELPING HANDS

World cuisine fest
The food festival brings together
various speciality cuisines from
across the world. The Festival
includes a live kitchen where one
can see dishes being prepared and
plated.
tÜÉêÉW=Saffron Soul,
Hotel Marigold,
Greenlands
tÜÉåW Ongoing,
12.30am onwards
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 6736 361

Exclusive offering
Head to Taj Krishna where Interarts
is hosting an exhibition of the finest
european art, glass, dinner wear,
homeware and artefacts. The
exhibiton is on till September 2.
tÜÉêÉW==Taj Krishna,
Banjara Hills,
Rd No 1
tÜÉåW Ongoing
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 6666 2323

Satellite City
The play is the kaleidoscopic world
of a motley bunch of characters
and their struggle to make their
lives about something.
tÜÉêÉW=Ravindra Bharathi,
Saifabad
tÜÉåW September 2
7.30pm onwards
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 2323 1245

Jewellery workshop
The YMCA of Secunderabad in
association with Let’s Create Crafts
is organising a jewellery making
workshop. The cost of the workshop is `800 for members and
`825 for non-members.
tÜÉêÉW=YMCA,
Secunderabad
tÜÉåW September 1-2
10am and 1pm
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 2780 1909

Deccani Souls
Head to Prasad’s preview theatre on
September 2 for the screening of
the movie Deccani Souls.
tÜÉêÉW=Prasad’s preview theatre,
Banjara Hills,
Rd No2
tÜÉåW September 2,
7.30pm onwards

Kebab and biryani fest
Green Park Hotel presents its kebab
and biryani festival at Gardenia. The
lavish buffet caters to the Indian
palate, with a variety of five vegetarian and five non-vegetarian
kebabs to choose from.
tÜÉêÉW=Gardenia,
GreenPark Hotel,
Greenlands
tÜÉåW Ongoing,

7.30pm onwards
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 6651 5151

Life of others
A German film Leben der Anderen
(The life of others) directed by
Floren Henckel Von Donnersmarck
wil be shown on September 21.
tÜÉêÉW=Goethe Zentrum,
Banjara Hills,
Rd No 3
tÜÉåW September 21,
4pm onwards
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 2335 0443

Symphony of the seas
Head to the Symphony of the
Southern Seas at ITC Kakatiya to
sample delicacies such as the
Njandu Saru — an appetising crab
meat soup or Kalumakai Peera —
Mussels cooked dry in coconut and
garlic.
tÜÉêÉW=ITC Kakatiya,
Begumpet
tÜÉåW Ongoing,
12.30pm onwards
and 7.30pm onwards
`çåí~ÅíW (040) 4008 1950

he junior doctors continued their
stir, while demanding clear
guidelines on the compulsory
rural posting. With the medicos at
Kakatiya and Rangareddy hospital joining the doctors of Gandhi Hospital on
Friday, the agitation continued for
third day. As part of the strike, the
doctors have decided to boycott their
duties, excluding emergency services

20 tolas of gold stolen

T

N

he ruling Congress and
Opposition YSRC celebrated the third death
anniversary of former CM YS
Rajasekhara Reddy. CM Kiran Kumar
Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana
and Union minister Veerappa Moily
garlanded his statue at Panjagutta,
YSR's family members paid tributes at
his tomb at Idupulapaya in Kadapa.

early 20 tolas of gold ornaments
were stolen from the house of
Mohd Mustafa Ali Muzaffer, a
civil contractor, under Charminar
police station limits. Muzaffer had
gone to Jaipur with his family when
the incident took place. The lock was
opened with a false key and the criminals locked the door with another lock
after the theft.

CCB sleuths to grill City
terror suspect Obaid

Robbers
loot
`11 lakh

The arrest of 12 terror suspects in Karnataka foiled a major conspiracy to unleash
violence during Ganesh festival in Hubli.

I

‘My son’s innocent’

O

baid is the grandson of
the sister of Moulana
Naseeruddin, who was in jail
in Gujarat for four years over
terror charges. He was
acquitted. His mother said
Obaid had met Moulana
and his sons in jail and had
morally supported them and
that’s why police have targeted him and arrested him
under false charges.

MOHD SUBHAN

mohd.s@postnoon.com

O

baid ur Rahman, who
was arrested over suspected links with HUJI
and IM, was produced before
the magistrate on Saturday
night in Bangalore along with
other 11 youths.
Cases under Sections 120b,
121, 122, 124, 153a, 307 and 379
have been filed against them.
Obaid, a BCom drop-out,
was arrested by the Central
Crime Branch team of
Bangalore Police two days ago
from Gulshan Iqbal Colony, old
city, here.
The magistrate at first
ordered that they be in judicial
remand, but later allowed a
petition filed by the CCB officials for custody of the suspects
for interrogation. They will
remain in police custody for 14

Kauser Sultana and Tahera Khatoon, mother and grandmother of Obaid ur
Rahman, who was arrested over suspected links with HUJI and IM, at their
home in Gulshan Iqbal Colony, old city. Both claim that Obaid is innocent
and has no terror links.
days. Mohd Akram, one of the
suspects, is an activist of the
Popular Front of India and
belongs to Nanded.
Some of the suspects belong

to Hubli and Bangalore.
Following the arrest, the
police were able to bust conspiracy to perpetrate terror during
the Ganesh festival in Hubli.

“We suspect that they had
more plans which we are investigating and need more clarification,” Hubli police officials
said. However, Obaid’s mother,
Kauser Sultana, refuted allegations that her son had any terrorist links. “My son Obaid ur
Rahman is an asthma patient
and has been undergoing treatment. He has no links with any
terror organization,” she said.

Postnoon news
feedback@postnoon.com
n two robberies that took
place on Saturday night,
cash and valuables worth `11
lakh was looted from two locations in the City.
In the first incident that
occurred on Panjagutta flyover,
four unidentified persons, on
two bikes, robbed nearly `8
lakh from one Gopal — an
employee of a steel businessman Shashikanth Agarwal of
Banjara Hills. Gopal was travelling from Secunderabad to
Ranigunj on a scooter after
cash collection when the incident took place. The bikers
pushed him from his twowheeler, snatched the money
and fled. Detective inspector
Banjara Hills, T Ramaswamy,
registered a case and suspects
that known persons are behind
the robbery.
In the second incident, four
persons barged into the house
of PLR Narsimham in
Khairtabad Venkatramana
Colony. The robbers threatened
the family in Telugu and took
gold and cash valued at nearly
`3 lakh and escaped. Later
crime inspector K Sattaiah and
CLUES team visited the spot
and a case was booked.

Congress gains with SC-ST plan
Inkeshaf Ahmed
ahmed.m@postnoon.com

P

ushed to a corner for a
while after the extension of
support to Scheduled Caste
(SC) categorisation. by the
Opposition TDP, the ruling
Congress seems to have succeeded in earning the political
mileage with its announcement
of an exclusive sub-plan for the
SC and ST communities.
This has not only reduced
the effect of TDP's open support
to the controversial SC categorisation issue but also helped the
Congress to retain its image
among the SCs.
A Cabinet sub-committee led
by deputy chief minister
Damodar Raja Narasimha did a
detailed study on the allocation

of funds to SC and ST community from the State's budget and
submitted a detailed report with

its recommendations to Chief
Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy
recently.

The CM termed the report as
a new chapter in the history of
Andhra Pradesh and promised
that he would convene a special
Assembly session to make the
report into a law.
Commenting on the report,
minister for handlooms and textiles G Prasad Kumar said that it
is a slap on the face of the TDP
which shed crocodile tears by
raising the issue of SC categorisation. He alleged that the TDP
did not do anything for the
development of SCs during its
nine-year rule.
"The Telugu Desam wanted
to create trouble for our government. But the attempts of the
TDP proved futile when we
announced making of SC and ST
sub-plan into a law,” he said.
Kumar added that the

Congress would soon announce
its support for the SC community categorisation into four subgroups.
Mounting an attack on the
Opposition on the occasion, the
CM said the Congress had
always worked to uplift the SCs,
STs and the depressed classes.
He reminded that though the
sub-plans for SCs and STs are
being implemented for a very
long time, the fruits of these
were not reaching the target
group. He expressed confidence
that with the new law, the
depressed communities would
receive their share of funds.
The Congress is now planning to take steps on the issue of
SC categorisation to consolidate
its conventional vote bank in
coming days.

he growth of the country
is directly correlated to its
electricity consumption.
According to the government, it will take 25-30 years for
India to become self-sufficient in
its electricity needs, where the
energy is produced from different sources that include nuclear
energy. However, this is far from
reality because of agitations
stalling the initiated power projects, said Rajiv Agrawal,
Secretary, Indian Captive Power
Producers Association.
Electricity is a commodity,
where the demand will be only
increase year after year. If a
group of people consume 100 MW
this year, the same will need
120MW to 160 MW next year. It is
important to understand the
need in demand should be driven
by productive usage and not by
the luxury usage or misusage of
resources.
For instance, giving free
power will reduce its value and
there is huge wastage. If a person
is a getting free power, he many
not really bother to switch off the
pump set of the bore well in time,
which leads to wastage.
On usage of
different
resources for captive power, he
said, the wind energy and hydel
power cannot produced in the
required location. Even if there
is huge availability of wind,
there are only few pockets where
there is enough wind which to
run windmills at a commercially
viable scale. There will be heavy
transmission costs if one runs
these plants in far off location.
Micro industries cannot
afford diesel generators whereas
small industries are using DG
sets to fulfil the power needs
because of less initial invest-

ments. The unit of power can be
produced anywhere between `1316. However, the huge initial
investments and returns on it is
impeding the industry to use
solar power, said Ramesh Datla,
chairman, Confederation of
Indian Industry, MSME Council.
“There are also issues in producing electricity through waste
especially in terms of collection,
segregation of waste and preventing the pollution during the
process. Renewable energy is definitely option but only 2-5 per
cent energy needs are expected
from these sources,” said
Agrawal.
Around 30,000 MW is produced through captive power out

Number of power holidays:
Power cut for the industry:
Grid power cost:
Unit prices for Captive power
Coal power
Solar power
DG set
of which 50 per cent is through
coal (steam) followed by diesel,
gas and other renewable energy
sources. The government is neither giving coal to produce captive power to be self-dependent
nor giving the normal power to
run the industry. The government is directing the available

3 (during the week)
4 hours during normal days
`5 per unit
`1.5-2
`15 per unit
`13-16 per unit
coal to coal-based plants due to
its scarcity, he said.
“If we don’t have enough
resources for produce power, we
have to have save power. The only
way out is to rationalise power
supply across the country. The
government
should
bring
rationing system in place for

non-productive consumption.
For instance, government
should not let consumer as much
power he wants. There should be
double or triple of the unit
charges if he or she is using it as
a luxury and go beyond a point,”
he added.
The government should start
innovative schemes that support
industry with initial investments
in setting up the captive solar
power plants, where in the investments can distributed and can be
repaid to the government in 10-15
years. It is high time public
should keep the needs and
growth of the country in mind
before agitating against upcoming power projects, said Datla.

flutter of activity was
underway on the first
day of the AIESEC
recruitment drive organised
in the City. Students were
buzz with excitement as they
competed to be part of the
world's largest youth-run
organisation. The first day of
the two day recruitment
drive saw more than 650
applications. Spread across

110 countries and present in
over
2,100
universities,
AIESEC sends students and
graduates on 5,500 international exchanges yearly.
This is an international
platform that enables young
people to explore and develop their leadership potential.
This explains the popularity
of the organisation among
the students in the City.
Students have to go
through a four-step process
before getting selected. The

first step is the Raffles round
where one's analytical abilities are tested.
Next, is the group discussion round in which students
have to debate on topics
given by the evaluators.
Recruiters change the topic
of the debate every five minutes and students must cater
to this change accordingly.
Following group discussion round is the team stimulation session. This is the
round that test one's leader-

ship qualities and most of
the students get filtered during this step.
Last one is the personal
interview where each student will come face to face
with the recruiters.
Archita from Loyola
Degree College says, “My
friend was part of AIESEC
from last year and I saw the
changes in her through the
year. I want to be part of the
organisation to find out what
this is all about.”

5

NATION
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Militant killed in Kashmir

O

Man held with fake notes

Coal blocks review tomorrow

ne foreign militant has been
killed in the ongoing gunfight
between the security forces
and the terrorists in Ganderbal district,
the police said. The gunfight started
on Saturday morning, when troops surrounded the Chattergul forest area.
When the militants were challenged,
they started firing at the security forces
triggering an encounter.

A

A

n inter-ministerial group is likely to
meet tomorrow to review the
status of 58 coal blocks which
both public and private firms failed to
develop within stipulated time frame.
Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has also
directed the officials in the coal
ministry to submit a final report on the
status of the 54 coal blocks by
September 15.

man has been arrested in
Guwahati for allegedly smuggling fake Indian currency notes
having a face value of `12 lakh.
Mohd Hakim Sheikh, a resident of
Malda in West Bengal, was arrested on
August 30 when he was about to
deliver the fake currency in Guwahati,
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
officials said.

Black money: Lack
of inputs hits agency

CELEBRATIONS

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau’s requests for
information to investigative agencies have got poor response.
NEW DELHI: A year after it
was mandated to create a
database of financial crimes and
issue alerts to enforcement agencies about black money, the
country’s top economic intelligence organisation CEIB is groping in the dark for want of good
intelligence information.
Top sources in the finance
ministry said the CEIB, in the
last six months, has sent a number of reminders to agencies
like the I-T department, ED, IB,
CBI, Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence, Directorate General
of Central Excise Intelligence
and others to share with it the
“gist/summary” of cases they
are developing and probing so
that it can prepare a “good and
enhanced repository” to combat
such crimes.
“The various agencies are
still not sending the summary of
the economic crime cases they
investigate or prosecute. The
CEIB has made many requests
for such information but barring
few instances, not much is
shared,” a source said.
Last year, the government
had decided to revamp and
review the role and functioning
of the Central Economic

A HIGH-LEVEL PANEL
HAD RECOMMENDED
THAT ALL INTELLIGENCE
AND ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES “WILL SHARE
INFORMATION WITH THE

CEIB”.

Intelligence Bureau (CEIB).
A high-level committee constituted in this regard had recommended that all intelligence
and enforcement agencies under
the finance and home ministries
“will share information with the
CEIB, which in turn, will be able
to provide back-end support,
linkages and insights harnessing the power of databases and
data analytics to the agencies,
and a holistic view of these
activities to the Government”.
The CEIB, according to
sources, is hence unable to
accomplish the task of creating
a library of financial crime
cases and is also not able to
issue large-scale advisories related to economic frauds.
Earlier this year, the CEIB
had also presented its case dur-

ing the Economic Intelligence
Council and heads of agencies
meeting it had with the finance
minister.
The review committee that
had gone into the restructuring
of the CEIB last year, in the
wake of the clamour to combat
black money, has specifically recommended that the relation
between the CEIB and other
agencies should be like the ‘hub
and spoke’ model in matters of
sharing classified financial
crime information.
“The CEIB has taken up the
issue of sharing the gist of cases
in various meetings. All the
agencies under the umbrella
should share the gist of such
cases so that black money and
financial crime cases are tackled
effectively,” a senior official in
the ministry said.
The report had recommended last year that “in view of the
growing complexity and sophistication of economic offences,
collaboration across the spectrum of the agencies engaged in
enforcement of economic laws
ought to be the central tenet of
government’s strategy for combating serious economic
PTI
offences and tax evasion.

Sikh devotees watch a fireworks display over the illuminated Golden
Temple in Amritsar. Sikhs are celebrating the 408th anniversary of
the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikh
religion.
AFP/NARINDER NANU

60 Illegal migrants pushed back

India, China to resume exercises

IMPHAL: At least 60
illegal migrant labourers were pushed back by
state police while trying
to enter Manipur
through Jiribam border
check post at ManipurAssam border, official
sources said today.
Police personnel
halted several labourers
at Jiribam check post

NEW DELHI: India and
China are expected to
resume their bilateral
military exercises from
next year and a decision
in this regard is likely to
be taken during the fiveday visit of Chinese
Defence Minister Gen
Liang Guanglie.
During Gen Liang’s
visit which begins today,

yesterday and verified
each and every document, the sources said.
Sixty labourers who
could not speak
Manipuri or any tribal
dialect and appeared to
be Bangladeshi nationals with no valid documents were found at the
other side of the check
post in Assam, the

sources said adding that
they were not allowed to
enter Manipur.
Official sources said
the state government
had already informed
about the detection of 43
illegal migrant labourers from Bangladesh and
Myanmar on August 30
last during combing
operations in Imphal.

Pick

at the

the two sides will discuss about having more
Confidence Building
Measures (CBMs) and
ways of strengthening
their military ties, a
senior official of the
Defence Ministry said
here.
Military exercises
between the two countries had started in 2007

airport,

but were put on hold
after a series of hiccups
in the defence ties
between the two sides.
After the denial of visa
to the then Northern
Army Commander Lt
Gen B S Jaswal by the
Chinese in 2010, New
Delhi froze all bilateral
defence exchanges with
PTI
Beijing.

DAMASCUS: At least 15 people were killed
in Syria Saturday when a booby-trapped car
exploded at a restive suburb of Damascus
in the evening, Xinhua reported. It was the
third car bomb blast hitting the country in a
single day. The car went off near a mosque
in the Sbaineh suburb, reported state-run
SANA news agency, adding that 15 civilians
had been killed.

oriented books rooted in themes of flight
and self-discovery, was in serious condition
Saturday after his homebuilt SeaRay singleengine aircraft clipped power lines Friday at
4.30 pm about three miles west of Friday
Harbor Airport, according to sources.

CLASSIFIEDS
EDUCATION

It’s too late to be sorry
Thalidomide survivors on Saturday rebuffed an apology by the German company
that manufactured the drug, saying it was an insulting response.
LONDON: Thalidomide survivors on Saturday rebuffed
an apology by the German
company that manufactured
the drug, saying it was an
“insulting” response to the
thousands born disabled as a
result of its use.
In its first apology for the
scandal in 50 years,
Grunenthal said on Friday it
was “very sorry” for its

How do you wrestle
with your conscience
when the injustice
you have perpetrated
has destroyed the
lives of children and
left thousands of
thalidomide victims
still enduring pain
and suffering, without
adequate compensation?

THE

STORY OF A DEMON DRUG

Harold Evans
Former editor, the Sunday Times

silence towards victims of
the drug, which was sold to
pregnant women in the 1950s
and early 1960s to cure morning sickness.
But victims said the apology was too little, too late for
the estimated 10,000 children
worldwide who were born
with defects — including
missing limbs — after their
mothers took thalidomide.
“We feel that a sincere
and genuine apology is one
which actually admits wrongdoing. The company has not
done that and has really
insulted the Thalidomiders,”
British victim Nick Dobrik
told BBC radio.
Victims’ charities estimate that there are between
5,000 and 6,000 people still living who were deformed by
the drug, which was sold in
nearly 50 countries before it
was pulled from the market
in 1961 amid one of the world’s biggest medical scandals.
Thalidomide babies were often born with missing or extremely short arms and legs.
Billed as a “wonder drug” to
cure everything from morning sickness to insomnia, thalidomide also caused blindness and malformed organs.
The countries most affected included Germany,
Britain, Japan, Canada and
Australia. It was not banned
in Canada, Japan and
Belgium until 1962.
Freddie Astbury, president of the charity
Thalidomide UK, said

1953

The dirty facts

INSULT IN STONE
Picture taken on Friday shows a memorial dedicated to the victims of
the medicament thalidomide (in Germany Contergan) after its unveiling in Stolberg, western Germany (text reads: In Memoriam For the
Dead and Surviving Victims of the Contergan Tragedy). Gruenenthal,
the German firm that made thalidomide, has issued its first apology in
50 years to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug’s use,
drawing stinging criticism from advocates for some survivors.
AFP / HENNING KAISER

Grunenthal needed to “put
their money where their
mouth is” and compensate
victims rather than simply
saying sorry. “If they are
serious about admitting they
are at fault and regret what
happened they need to start
helping those of us who were
affected financially,” said
Astbury, who was born without arms and legs after his
mother took the drug.
Lawyers for Australian
survivors described the belated apology as “pathetic”.

“It is too little, too late
and riddled with further
deceit,” lawyers for
Australian victim Lynette
Rowe said in a statement. “To
suggest that its long silence
before today ought to be put
down to ‘silent shock’ on its
part is insulting nonsense.
For 50 years Grunenthal has
been engaged in a calculated
corporate strategy to avoid
the moral, legal and financial
consequences of its reckless
and negligent actions of the
AFP
1950s and 1960s.”

2004

1968

treatment of multiple myeloma
by the European Medicines
Agency.

2005

2010

the UK.

The UK manufacturer Distillers
Biochemicals Ltd (now Diageo)
reaches a compensation settlement after a legal battle with
the families of those affected.

Thalidomide is
made available on
a named patient basis.

1961

1972

2007

2012

The anti-morning
sickness drug
thalidomide is created in
Germany by the Grünenthal
Group.

1958

Thalidomide is first
licensed for use in

An Australian doctor, William
McBride, writes to the Lancet
medical journal after noticing
an increase in the number of
deformed babies born at his
hospital, all to mothers who
had taken thalidomide. The

drug is withdrawn later the
same year.

The Sunday Times
publishes a frontpage lead under the banner
“Our thalidomide children, a
cause for national shame”.
Eventually, a total of £28m is
paid out by Diageo during the
1970s.

A Kenyan boy with
no arms or legs is
granted a visa to travel to the
UK to receive medical treatment after a campaign by the
charity Thalidomide UK.
A study shows that
thalidomide can
significantly improve the survival chances of bone-marrow
cancer patients. .

2008

The drug is
approved for the

The health minister
Mike O’Brien
makes a formal apology to
thalidomide victims, expressing
“sincere regret and deep sympathy” on behalf of the government.
The inventor
of thalidomide,
the Grünenthal Group,
releases a statement saying
it regrets the consequences of
the drug.

n Originally given to
pregnant women
half a century ago to
limit morning sickness, thalidomide
caused birth defects
in thousands of
babies, a tragedy for
which the German
firm that manufactured the drug officially apologised for
the first time on
Friday.
n The sedative drug,
made by Chemie
Grunenthal and sold
between 1957 and
1962, affected at
least 10,000 babies
in some 40 countries, especially in
Germany, Britain,
Australia and
Canada. Some estimates put the number at nearer 20,000.
n Children were born
with stunted, twisted
or missing limbs
because thalidomide binds to, and
deactives, a protein
known as cereblon
which helps forms
limbs, research in
the journal Science
showed in 2010.
n In recent years,
though, interest in it
has revived as a
research tool and as
a treatment for diseases that attack the
immune system.

can’t understand why the city’s crying
over the fact that politicians spend
crores of rupees building statues.
Politicians have been bleeding this
country dry since independence and
the only thing that can save us is if we
throw them all out and turn governance over to the armed forces. Out
with the cheats, in with the generals.
Sankalp Kamat, via e-mail

Y

our article on the launch of the
new Mercedes Benz B-Class yesterday (A ‘B’ under the bonnet) is
eye-opening in the fact that with teh
condition of roads in the City fastdeteriorating, in a few years we will all
have to buy SUVs or Crossovers. The
big car companies will make pots of
money too.
Ramesh Shastri via e-mail

APOLOGIES IN
stone just won’t do

RICHARD BACH,
get well soon
Richard Bach, the man who
showed the world there’s more
to life through the story of a
gull, had a crash while flying on
Saturday and suffered injuries to
his head and shoulder. We hope
and pray that the man who
exhorted us all to fly above the
flock gets well soon.

Readers’ views
We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com
or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,
Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,
Hyderabad – 500 033 or
even by way of a call on
040-4067 2222.

Say it for pets

T

hank the stars there are vets in
the City (Vet Peeves, September
1) who understand the plight of
pets bought by ignorant owners, of
whom there are many. It’s high time
the veterinary community took a stand
against the ill-treatment of domestic
animals and took it upon themselves
to be their guardians. Good job Dr
Dog. Monica Dhawan via e-mail

Technology, the
wealth for health

EDITORIALS

Grünenthal is deeply sorry
for the havoc they let loose in
the form of Thalidomide — 50
years later. There had been
enough warnings that there was
something very wrong with their
product. But the German drug
maker chose to keep quiet,
egged on by their greed as their
demonic drug caused thousands
of babies to be born with
defects during the 1950s and
1960s. Now, with abject shamelessness and absence of conscience, the German company
has admitted to its mistake, and
attempts to do penance by
unveiling a memorial statue and
releasing a statement that it
"regrets" the effects of its drug.
This statue is an insult in stone,
for will it ease the pain of those
mothers and babies who are victims of Thalidomide? While the
victims and their kin will continue to live, Grünenthal’s admittance in stone will live, too, sniggering at them silently, humiliating them without uttering a
word. Is the memorial
Grünenthal’s grand plan to
escape compensating the affected thousands? As the company's chief executive, Harald
Stock, said, Grünenthal has
failed to reach out to the victims
and their mothers "from person
to person", but it can and must
compensate each and every one
of them. Platitudes that convey
regret and sympathy and apologies in stone won’t do.

EDITORIALS

From the hip
SYED SHOAIB

H

yderabad-based Apollo
Hospitals Group will
set up 10 telemedicine
clinics abroad. At the
‘3rd International
Conference on Transforming
Healthcare with Information
Technology’ on Friday, Group
Chairman Prathap C Reddy said
the proposed telemedicine clinics would come up in Ghana,
Nigeria, Oman and Abu Dhabi,
among others.
In the conference, K
Ganapathy, president,
Telemedicine Society of India,
urged the Government of India
to allow the private sector into
the network of National
Knowledge Network (NKN).
Telemedicine Programme is
an innovative process of synergising benefits of satellite communication technology and
information technology with
biomedical engineering and
medical sciences to deliver
health care services to remote,
distant and under-served regions
of the country.
Providing healthcare to
India's over one billion population of which about 75 per cent
live in villages, is a formidable
task. About 75 per cent of the
doctors practice in urban areas
and 23 per cent in semi-urban
areas. This leaves just 2 per cent
of qualified doctors, who are
attached to about 23,000 primary
health and 3,000 community
health centres, to attend to 70 per
cent of the population living in
villages!
The Hyderabad conference
pointed out that 80 per cent of
doctors live in urban areas,
while 80 per cent of the population lived in rural areas and the
challenge was to bridge this gap
using technology.
To improve healthcare services in remote parts of the
country, the Planning
Commission has suggested
adopting telemedicine by using

software applications such as
Skype in its report on health for
the 12th Five-Year plan.
According to an article in the
Business Standard in April 2012,
the Indian telemedicine market
is estimated to be $7.5 million
and is expected to grow at a rate
of around 20 per cent over the
next five years. It is estimated
that 1.5 lakh people are benefited
through telemedicine every year.
In March 2012, Saudi Arabia
sought the help of Bangalore’s
Narayana Hrudayalaya (cardiac
hospital) in setting up a
telemedicine centre in Riyadh
for providing remote healthcare
to its citizens in the desert country.
In the village of Hari Ke

THE HYDERABAD CONFERENCE POINTED OUT
THAT 80 PER CENT OF
DOCTORS LIVE IN URBAN
AREAS, WHILE 80 PER
CENT OF THE POPULATION
LIVED IN RURAL AREAS
AND THE CHALLENGE WAS
TO BRIDGE THIS GAP
USING TECHNOLOGY.
Kalan, in Punjab, residents who
bicycle to a new health clinic
started there, can get an appointment with a physician appearing
on a large-screen television

beamed over broadband
Internet. The clinic, built by a
start-up called Healthpoint
Services, is one of a network of
eight ‘e-health points’ that the
for-profit company has built in
India as part of a growing effort
by entrepreneurs to capitalise on
the rapid expansion of cellular
and broadband access in the
developing parts of the world.
Chakrajmal village, in Bijnor
district in Uttar Pradesh, got its
first doctor in 2008. He was not
based in the village, though. The
villagers had access to the doctor
via a telemedicine project
launched by World Health
Partners (WHP) to provide
health care services to 1,000 villages in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor,
Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts. Gopi Gopalakrishnan,
founder-president of WHP, is
replicating this model in Bihar.
Telemedicine is a crucial element in the development of
Africa healthcare services,
where like other poor nations
the ratios of doctors to patients
are abysmal. As all towns and
villages are accessible by cars,
use of telemedicine saves time
and lives.
Telemedicine and tele-health
have the potential to increase
access to care, improve quality of
care and decrease costs. For
instance, the American
Telemedicine Association proposed a legislation that would
expand telemedicine and save an
estimated $186 million over the
next 10 years.
Physicians should get more
involved in telemedicine, enterprise software expert and former
technology company executive
Shahid Shah said on his Health
IT Guy blog. And they don’t necessarily need expensive equipment to do so. For example, Shah
noted, physicians can use widely
available web meeting and
online video tools to connect
with patients in remote areas.
Availability, affordability and
accessibility of healthcare can
be bridged big time with the latest technology.
The writer works for
Postnoon

9

BUSINESS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Vale to sell iron ore ships

B

razil’s mining giant Vale has
agreed to sell 10 iron ore
freighters for $600 million to
Turkish-based firm Polaris Shipping.
The Brazilian company, the world’s
biggest iron ore producer, said
on Friday that the transaction would
improve cash flow while still
maintaining its maritime ore
shipping capacity.

Apple files new suit

A

pple has filed a fresh patent
infringement action in the
United States against
Samsung, alleging that the South
Korean company is continuing to steal
its technology despite a recent court
ruling. The new claim was filed in San
Jose, California on Friday and it says
that Samsung, is still using its rival’s
technology.

Abu Dhabi opens new port

O

il-rich Abu Dhabi began commercial operations on Saturday
at its new Khalifa Port in a
multi-billion-dollar project to transfer
its main container terminal from the
40-year-old port of Mina Zayed. The
new facility has been built on
reclaimed land five kilometres off the
coast. The first phase of the project,
now complete, has cost $7.2 billion.

Slovenian supercar maker
hits the road in style
O

ut of a little garage in
northeastern Slovenia,
comes a new supercar
— and it is already
joining the ranks of the world’s
elite, alongside Lamborghini and
Ferrari.
Only six months after presenting his first prototype at
Monaco’s Top Marques event,
Aljosa Tusek, 46, has been invited to London’s exclusive Salon
Prive car show which runs
Wednesday through Friday, and
customers from all over the
world keep calling him.
Far from a sleek assembly
line however, his Renovatio T500
saw the light of day in a friend’s
garage.
A former racer, Tusek
designed it in his spare time,
building it with the help of
about 10 fellow car enthusiasts
over several years, while balancing a full-time job as a distributor for an international tyre
company.
“A moment comes when you
decide to stop racing, but you do
not want to quit it. Since I could
not find a car that would satisfy
me the way racing did, I decided
to make it myself,” Tusek said
while showing off his creation.
Using the Slovak K1-Attack
racer as a basis, he created a
supercar equipped with an Audi
V8 FSI engine with 450 horse
power, that weighs approximately one tonne and can accelerate
from zero to 100 kmph in 3.7 seconds.
And the 300,000-euro
($375,000) car — listed as one of
the highlights at the Monaco
show — has already earned a
shining review from the
renowned BBC auto show Top
Gear, which described it as
“massively fast”, “agile” and
“quite civilised”.
The “newcomer from
Slovenia... looks very much at
home next to the established
exotica from Alfa Romeo,
Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini”,
it added.
A supercar — a fast, powerful or luxurious car — usually
costs between 500,000 and 600,000
euros but Tusek consciously
kept the price down to sell his
first models more easily, to enter

the market and to get his name
known.

“EVERYONE
FERRARI”

CAN BUY A

“Brands like Ferrari have
developed strongly, increased
their production and market
share. That makes it less interesting for extremely wealthy customers. They do own a Ferrari
but it is no longer a status symbol, everyone can buy it,” he
said.
Tushek on the other hand —
the company has an added “h”
in its name to make it easier for
non-Slovenians to pronounce —
will produce only a limited number of each model.
So far, Tusek has built three
cars and sold two of them, but
his long-term plans are to speed

THE CAR, EQUIPPED
WITH AN AUDI V8 FSI
ENGINE WITH 450
HORSE POWER, CAN
ACCELERATE FROM ZERO
TO 100 KMPH IN 3.7
SECONDS.
up production and deliver 10
cars per year. Waiting time
should not exceed six months, he
says.
For that, he will hire 10-15
people, mostly engineers and
friends who already helped him
produce the first cars, working
during their free time while
keeping steady jobs.
For Tusek too, retreating to
the garage has always been a

means to escape daily stress.
“I did not start this for the
money... I started it with the idea
of making the car I would like to
drive,” he said.
From his early childhood, he
raced: first with go-carts, then
motorbikes and finally cars, winning various regional races.
Now still, he takes his creations very seriously, testing
them on the road so that nothing
will surprise the future owners.
The global crisis does not
worry him.
“This is the best time to start
with a business like this. There
will be a way out of recession,
because there has to be, and
when that happens we will
already be a strong company.”
Still, if he had the choice, he
would live in Monaco,
Switzerland or a major capital
like Paris or London.

AFP

“There you can see that for
some there is no crisis at all,
there are so many wealthy people,” Tusek said, and admitted to
targeting British and French
millionaires, to whom he hopes
to sell at least three more cars by
the end of the year.
In the meantime, he is
preparing a new supercar, the
Forego T700, which will be presented next year and should
exceed the Renovatio both in
terms of power and price, at
twice the cost.
“I’m not thinking about the
price of the product, I’m thinking about the people who already
have many cars,” says Tusek.
“We want our cars to be
excellent, so that those who have
fuel in their veins, like cars and
are lucky enough to have sufficient money, see that we offer
AFP
something different.”

10

INTERVIEW
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

A TRAVELLER'S TALES

A chance encounter with a friend led her to visit an orphanage in India and now teacher-turnedtravel entrepreneur Vicki Aubert is out to spread some smiles in the City.
DEEPAK DESHPANDE

food’s great. (laughs)

PADMINI C

padmini.c@postnoon.com

What’s your average day like?
I don’t have average days. I’m not
that disciplined (laughs). A lot of my
time is actually spent on my laptop.

How did Hyderabad happen
to you?

What about your job do you
enjoy the most?

It happened quite by chance. My
husband works for a joint venture
with TATA aerospace and so I followed him here. I was initially quite
apprehensive because it was my
first time in Asia, but everybody
here has made my stay here so
easy. It's been a year and so far it's
been wonderful.

I love meeting new people,
exploring new cultures, observing
relationships in new countries. I
love all of it.

You were a teacher for a long
time. And then you made the
leap into travel, setting up
Passport & Go. How did that
happen?
So, in my junior year at college, I
spent some time in Italy and loved
it there. Upon graduation, I took
my Masters in Languages and went
back to Italy. Since my husband
and I were already travelling by
then, I figured teaching was ideal.
But as it got more hectic, I wanted

to do something that you could run
out of a laptop. So I did a course in
travel and here I am.

Did you ever imagine you’d be
here one day, travelling the
world?
Never. I was born in a small town in
Vermont. My father still lives in the
house next to the one he was born
in. That's how much I thought I’d
travel. As a little girl, I remember
pointing out a place on the globe
with my eyes closed and wishing to
go there. But I never thought it’d
happen.

You are from Vermont, you have
lived in Rome and France and
you have travelled quite a lot.
But what’s your favourite place
to be?
Every place is unique. But my heart
belongs in Italy. It’s because I have
spent a lot of time there, it’s where I
met my husband. It’s beautiful, the
mountains and the sea. And the

Is there a flip side?
People look at the crazy life I have
had and think it’s great. And for
the most part, it is too. My daughters Stephanie and Ashley speak
four languages and can adapt to
anywhere. But it’s been a trade-off.
Since we’ve been away so long,
they are removed from their roots.
They didn’t have the childhood I
did, surrounded by grandparents
and cousins and extended family.
That's very sad.

Tell us about the Cherish project
that you’re fundraising for.
So when I first came to Hyderabad,
I met Kelly Johnson, a friend with a

THE CHILDREN (AT
CHERISH FOUNDATION)
ARE INCREDIBLE. YOU
WOULDN’T BELIEVE IT IF
YOU SAW THEIR HAPPINESS AND THEIR SMILES
ABOUT THE TRAUMA
THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
THROUGH.
big heart who told us about
Cherish Foundation, an orphanage
in Uppal that was amazing. So I
promised to go sometime. When I
finally did, I met these incredible
kids and they started called me the
“hugging aunty” (laughs). They had
a leaking roof, lack of uniforms and
a number of needs. That’s when I
decided to do something. Thus
came the idea of the fundraiser.

What was about this home

caught your eye?
The children are incredible. You
wouldn’t believe it if you saw their
happiness and their smiles about
the trauma that they have been
through. I have been to a few
NGOs in the City but they are well
established and have administrative
offices and everything. Cherish is
just a home with 35 children trying

to make the best of what they have.
There’s something about it that will
change you.

How can people help?
Cherish places a strong emphasis
on education. What they really
need is a vehicle to transport them
to school. Right now, they have a
tiny minivan which has to make

three trips to get the kids to school.
So some end up going really early
while some end up going late. We
are trying to change this. Anyone
willing to help can attend/participate in our event on November
17 at Taj Krishna. Or, if they want
to donate, they can get in touch
with me at vicki@cherish-foundation.org.

11

GOLDEN YEARS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

AGE NO BAR

Hitting the gym and staying fit is no longer a
domain of the young. Exercise for health and
long life, suggest City fitness experts.
ANISHAA KUMAR

anishaa.k@postnoon.com

T

alk about fitness and gymming,
what’s the first thing that comes
to your mind? For many of us, it’s
fast-paced music, svelte and well
dressed youngsters sweating it out. But
over the years, the demography of gyms
is seeing a change, with new entrants
who till recently considered visiting a
gym inappropriate for their age.
According to the study conducted in
people above the age of 75, published in
the British Medical Journal, exercise, a
social life and quitting smoking can help
increase their lifespan by five years for
women and six years for men. The study
followed over 1,800 people for 18 years.
At the end, it was seen that at least half
of the respondents survived beyond 90.
Kuldep Sethi, director of 360 degrees
fitness, says, “As you age, your
metabolism decreases, fat content
increases and muscle endurance decreases. Because of this, mobility also comes
down, as a result of which it becomes difficult to do day-to-day activities. The
stress of not being able to move around
or having to depend upon someone for
basic requirement can add to your woes.”
Exercise is said to keep you active,
mobile and also mentally alert and happy.

According to Chandrasekhar Reddy,
owner, Helios, “Any kind of physical
activity in which one is pushing against
gravity helps in blood circulation. This
increased circulation helps blood reach
various organs. Most of the organs in the
body are young as the tissues regenerate
after a few days. Thus, if blood reaches
these tissues, it helps in the process of
regeneration. This in turn helps prevent
ailments such as arthritis.”
Earlier for most people over 50, exercise was restricted to yoga and perhaps
walking. But now the elderly have begun
visiting gyms. Kuldep says, “The trend is
catching up in the City. Earlier, people
were not sure about the concept of
senior citizens working out in a gym. But
now we do see such people in the age
group of 50-70 come in.” Highlighting the
benefits of gym training, Kuldep says
that weight training helps increase muscle endurance and metabolism, while
also helping reduce fat. “This makes
them less prone to injury and they do not
need to depend on others for their activities. If they are in good health, they will
also be happier. Instead of visiting a doctor, it’s better they visit a gym.”
Many may fear the dangers of handling heavy gym equipment. Chandrasekhar says, “The kind of exercise
depends upon the health condition. It is
advisable that they take a doctor’s advice
on which areas they need to and can
work on. We have trainers who will guide
them to do exercises that are suitable.”

Changing Horizon, will map the journey of Indian landscapes from 17th
century with 365 artworks by 150 artists
in perhaps the first panorama of the
genre, which marked the beginning of
modernism in Indian art and paved the
way for a fusion of eastern sensibilities
with western styles. The exhibition will
run at the Delhi Art Gallery.

County Museum (LACM) of Art will
present Mapplethorpe’s gay sadomasochistic photographs, including a
picture of a finger inserted into a
penis, and several scenes of objects
being inserted into an anus. LACM’s
plan to open this show two weeks
before Election Day is highly commendable.

Work on Sabra massacre sold
LONDON: The Tate in London is buying a
work based on the massacre of
Palestinian refugees, sheltering in camps
near Beirut in 1982, which has been called
the “modern Guernica”. Sabra and
Shatila Massacre, 1982-83, is a vast drawing by the Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi.
According to the Tate, Azzawi was influenced by a report from the camps by the
late French writer and activist Jean Genet.

A vivid
voyage

PIETA is not just another art
exhibition. With works by major
Indian artists like Thota Vaikuntam,
Lakshma Goud and Trotsky Maredu
on display, the show promises to be
an exhilarating journey.
Postnoon News
feedback@postnoon.com

“T

he idea of initiating PIETA
started almost a
year back when
I met Praveen
Jagarlamudi, an avid art collector,” says Kaali Sudheer, the
founder and curator of Muse Art
Gallery.

Jagarlamudi’s collection
included works by big names in
the art world, like Thota
Vaikuntam, Lakshma Goud,
Laxman Aelay, Praneet Soi,
Anjaneyulu G, Rahul
Mukherjee, Prajakta Palav Aher,
Balaji Ponna, L Saraswathi,
Sumantara Mukherjee,
Haribabu Nateesan, Subrata
Das, Vikram RV, Trotsky
Maredu, Tuhin Kundu, Bomdeb
Mondal, Shivrama Chary Y and
many more.
The long list of major artists
in his collection makes it priceless and his collection has some
rare pieces as well, says
Sudheer, adding, “It would definitely be a visual spectacle to
view his collection!”
The show, for which a preview was held on September
1, was inaugurated by
actress Lakshmi Manchu.
As Sudheer says, “Apart
from his (the collector’s)

Apart from the
collector’s family and
friends wanting to see
the works displayed, I
believe it will set a new
trend of display of art
by collectors... in a
way, it will help art
grown in the City

Peredvizhniki
‘The Wanderers’ set up an independent art cooperative to bring
the best of Russian art to the people in the provinces.

O

ften called ‘The
Wanderers’ or ‘The
Itinerants’, the
Peredvizhniki was a group
of Russian realist artists who, in
protest at academic restrictions,
formed an artists' cooperative.
The group evolved into
the Society for Travelling Art
Exhibitions in 1870.
A group of 14 students left
the Imperial Academy of Art

and, in an attempt to bring art to
the people, formed an independent artistic society called
Peredvizhniki . In 1870,
Peredvizhniki created the
‘Association of Travelling Art
Exhibits’ to give a chance to people from provinces to follow the
achievements of Russian art,
and to teach people to appreciate
art. The society maintained
independence from state support

and brought the art, which illustrated the contemporary life of
the people from Moscow and
Saint-Petersburg, to provinces.
Peredvizhniki were influenced by the public views of the
literary critics Vissarion
Belinsky and Nikolai
Chernyshevsky, both of whom
espoused liberal ideas. Belinsky
thought that literature and art
should attribute a social and

friends and family wanting to
see all the works displayed, I
believe the exhibition will set a
new trend of display of art by
collectors.”
Speaking of some of the
works on display at the exhibition, Sudheer said, “The works
of Praneet Soi, which illustrates
trauma in various forms, are
what I liked the most. He paints
grim pictures using a monochromatic palette of greys. His paintings are flat and sparse and the
dark backgrounds frequently

ART FOR DUMMIES

overwhelm the subjects, spelling
a troublesome fate in a spectacular manner. Along with the
colour scheme, the figures themselves seem to demonstrate great
despair, giving the artist’s works
an eerie feel.”
Another artist whose work
impressed Sudheer is Rahul
Mukherjee. “The work elevates
the hypocrisy prevalent in society. He uses his art to subtly
depict the divides between those
who consider themselves above
the law and those who are more
likely to be victimized by it,”
said the curator.
The idea of an art show by a
collector will help artists know
that there is an art collector who
they can reach out to, says
Sudheer. The intention of the
show, according to the curator, is
to bring more people into art
and establish a new dimension
in art. “In a way, it will help art
grown in the City,” says Sudheer.

moral responsibility.
Peredvizhniki portrayed the
many-sided aspects of social life,
often critical of inequities and
injustices. But their art showed
not only poverty but also the
beauty of the folk way of life;
not only suffering but also fortitude and strength of characters.
Peredvizhniki condemned
the Russian aristocratic orders
and autocratic government in
their humanistic art. They portrayed the emancipation movement and later used historic art
to depict the common people.
By the 1890s, the Academy of
Arts structure was including
Peredvizhniki art in its classes,
and the influence of the artists
showed in national art schools.

13

ENVIRONMENT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Methane could worsen warming

Isaac is no Katrina: Scientists

Mystery of the shining clouds

LONDON: Swamp gas trapped under

NEW ORLEANS: Having just reached hur-

NEW YORK: Mysterious night-shining

miles of Antarctic ice, a chemical souvenir of that continent’s warmer days,
may someday escape to warm the
planet again. The researchers suggest
that microbes isolated since the ice
closed over them, have kept busy
digesting organic matter and making
methane—a much more effective
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

ricane strength, Hurricane Isaac is
poised to make landfall in New Orleans
— just hours before the seventh
anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's Gulf
Coast landfall. Though Isaac's timing is
drawing inevitable Katrina comparisons,
scientists and storm-savvy Gulf residents don't see the hurricane as the
second coming of Katrina.

clouds and trails of smoke left by
meteors share an intimate link, a new
study says. Satellite images collected
during the last five years reveal for the
first time that water vapor is freezing
around nanoscopic bits of meteor
smoke, thus seeding the formation of
high-altitude noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds.

Robert MacPherson

feedback@postnoon.com

W

hen it comes to
manoeuvring
a towboat in as
little as four
feet of muddy water, it helps to
know the Mississippi River as
intimately as Arthur Ward does.
“It’s a slow process,” the 72year-old captain of the tricolor
Ricky Robinson towboat explained as he delicately shunted
green and brown freight barges
around the port of Memphis.
“You have to go about halfspeed,” he said, “and you have to
stay in the center (of the channel) or else you’ll knock off a
rudder or pick up a rope.”
Drought across much of the
United States has seen the
mighty Mississippi — a strategic
waterway that runs 2,530 miles
(4,070 km) from Minnesota to the
Gulf of Mexico — drop to its
lowest levels in years.
So drastic is the problem
that even this past week’s downpours from Hurricane Isaac was
unlikely to make much of an
impact, officials said.
“It could provide a brief
respite... but we’re not certain
how big a difference it is going
to make,” said Donald Mayer,
chief of the navigation section
for the US Army Corps of
Engineers in Memphis.
It’s a 180-degree turn from
last year, when too much rain
swelled the Mississippi, provoking some of the worst floods in a
century along the river.
“During the 2011 flood, the
river was actually roughly three
miles wide,” said Mark Manning,
a survey boat operator for the US
Army Corps of Engineers, which
dredges and maintains the river
for shipping. “Now... we are probably around 1,500 ft to 2,000 ft
(450m to 600m) wide.”
With the Mississippi at
Memphis about 12 feet below its
normal levels, towboat operators
say they are feeling the pinch.
“It’s hard on our equipment
because the water is so shallow,
we’re damaging our equipment,”
said George Leavell, executive
vice-president of Wepfer Marine,
which operates the Ricky Robinson and 21 other towboats at
eight ports along the Mississippi
and two of its tributaries.
“We’re having to handle
more barges because they can’t
load them so deep, and we’ve lost
a significant amount of our
fleeting area — which is where
we park the barges — because
the water’s so low.”
The last time the Mississippi
dropped so low was in 1988,
when barge industry losses were
estimated at $1 billion. While

Drought hits
Mississippi
shipping even
after hurricane
The drought across
most of the United
States has seen the
mighty Mississippi river
drop to its lowest levels
in years, causing barge
traffic to stagnate.

Down the river

n The Mississippi river is the chief river of the
largest river system in North America, and is the
fourth longest river in the world.
n It is 4,070km long, originating in north Minnesota
and draining into the Mississippi River Delta at
the Gulf of Mexico.
n The river borders and cuts through 10 states.
n The river has the world’s fourth largest catchment
(drainage basin), covering almost 40 per cent of
landmass of the continental Unites States.

this year has not yet seen such
extremes, it is worryingly close.
Twice this month, barges
have run aground at Greenville,
Mississippi, downriver from
Memphis, forcing a halt to navigation and holding up hundreds
of other barges making their
way up or down the river.
Typically, a Mississippi river
barge is 200 ft long by 35 ft wide.
Fully loaded under normal conditions, it can hold as much
product as 70 tractor-trailer
highway trucks. But lower water
levels mean barges are going out
only partially full, to avoid hitting the river bed.

Every one-inch drop in water
level slashes the carrying capacity of a single barge by 17 tons of
cargo, says the American
Waterways Operators, an inland
marine trade association.
“A lot of these are grain
barges that will be used to haul
corn, soybeans and rice,” Leavell
said, pointing from the deck of
the Ricky Robinson to the row of
empty barges parked on the
shore. “These grain barges back
here,” he added, waving in another direction, “transport high
fructose corn syrup. Then we
have one right around the bend
here that is a cement barge.”
Chemicals, petroleum products and coal to fire power stations also travel by barge, so
higher shipping costs brought
on by the lower river levels can
mean higher prices for the end
consumer. And this year, the
increase comes on top of higher
farm commodity prices resulting
from the drought’s impact on US
grain production, much of which goes down the Mississippi to
Asian and other global markets.
“Consumers have to be willing to pay the price, and the cost
of getting to and from wherever
(products) are processed is part
of the price,” said economics
professor John Gnuschke of the
University of Memphis.
Wepfer Marine’s Leavell
noted the problem was
becoming “serious.”
“We’ll have to reduce drafts
potentially more. The river channel may be able to handle it, but
getting the barges in and out of
these small ports will be the
problem,” he said.
AFP

14

FOOD
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Domino’s 500th outlet

100 sickened by mango illness

Halloween candies launched

WASHINGTON: Federal health officials

NEW DELHI: Domino's Pizza, one of

the market leaders in the organised
pizza home delivery segment in India,
has now opened its 500th outlet at
Rajinder Nagar, Delhi. It is a part of
Jubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL) with
a network of 500 Domino's Pizza stores
across 110 cities. In the last few years,
Domino's Pizza has not only aggressively expanded its footprint.

WASHINGTON: Nestlé USA has

are investigating a foodborne illness
outbreak that has sickened more than
100 people in 16 states and has been
associated with salmonella-tainted
mangoes. Authorities said they are still
probing what caused an outbreak of
103 cases of salmonella Braenderup
infections and said they need more
time to figure out the problem.

launched a number of new candy varieties and packs for the Halloween
2012. New varieties include —
SweeTARTS Skulls & Bones, Spooky
Nerds, WONKA Trickster Treats, and
Nestlé’s Largest Bag. SweeTARTS
Skulls & Bones features a loose-filled
bag for decorating, snacking and
baking.
DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Think beyond
spicy curries;
there’s so
much more to
Tamil cuisine,
as is obvious
at this food
festival.

Lasagnas
in town

DELI 9

RANJANI RAJENDRA

ranjani.r@postnoon.com

H

osting a food festival is
probably the hottest
trend these days. But
bringing the
Hyderabadi foodie
something different is Courtyard
by Marriott, with its Tamil Nadu
food festival. So what’s the first
thing that comes to your mind
when one says Tamilian food? I
bet it’s the spicy and rich
Chettinad food. But there’s so
much more to Tamil cuisine
than just the tongue-numbing
variety. It was to bring this
aspect to fore that the chefs at
Momo Café decided to host a
Tamil food festival. Titled
‘Arusuvai Sangamam’ (meeting
of six flavours), it promises you
a refreshing gastronomic journey through Tamil Nadu.
When sous chef Somu
Sundaram explained the idea
behind hosting the festival and
how they were focussing on different regions like Kongunadu,
Cholanadu and Thondainadu, I
was sceptical. Who wants to eat
Tamil food that doesn’t have
spicy meat curries? But was I in
for a surprise.
Fashioned to reflect true
Tamil Nadu gastronomical culture, the meal begins with a welcome drink and a sweet (a bowl
of flavourful Panchamrutham).
Being a Tamilian myself, I was
more than pleased to dig into the
delicious concoction of bananas,
milk, honey and raisins.

TOP 3...

Gastronomy, the
Tamilian way
Following this, I was served
some deliciously soft navadhanyam adai (dosa made with
nine different kinds of grains).
But what is Tamilian food without a helping of parota and
paya? So we made a beeline for
the parota counter to sample the
snack served with mixed vegetable kurma, mutta curry (egg
curry) and paya (spicy meat
broth). I was a bit disappointed
by the parotas, which weren’t

flaky enough. The vegetable
kurma was a creamy delight.
Next, I headed to the counter
serving puliyodharai (tamarind
flavoured rice), mixed veg
poriyal, parappu urundai kulambu (dal dumplings in an onion
tomato gravy), urulai kara perattal (spicy potatoes), payuru thiratal (dal). For the non-vegetarians, there was thandu kheema
urundai (minced meat and
banana stem dumplings), palli
paalayam kozhi (chicken curry)
and thalapakathu chicken
biryani. I loved the crunchy
poriyal, parappu urundai kulambu and chicken curry. While the
koftas in the thandu kheema
urundai were rather good, the
gravy was a tad bland. The
biryani was a change from the
Hyderabadi variety and was
appreciated even by my double
masala biryani loving husband. I
thought the food was very much
like what is made in Tamilian

Momo Café,
Courtyard by Marriott,
On till September 9
For dinner only
(6.30pm to 11pm)
Meal for 2: Rs1,998
(inclusive of taxes)
households.
For dessert we had semiya
payasam (kheer) and adhirasam.
The payasam was warm and
good, but could have done with a
little less sugar, while the adhirasam was just perfect.
All in all, I went home a very
happy and satiated Tamilian,
who’d successfully proved to her
Andhra food-loving husband that
there’s a lot more to Tamilian cuisine than just coconut filled
gravies and spicy chicken curries.

The place that comes to my
mind when I think of
lasagna is Deli 9. Lasagna at
Deli 9 is one of most delicious I have had and I’ve
had it many times ever since
I stumbled upon it by
chance when I took a bite
from my friend’s plate. Each
time I am at the restaurant,
I am hesitant before taking
the first bite, dreading that
it wouldn’t taste as good as
the last lasagna, but never
have I been disappointed.
Whenever I try lasagna at a
new joint, I unconsciously
compare it to the one in Deli
9 and I am still on the search
to find a replacement.

10 DOWNING STREET

Next on my list is 10
Downing Street. This is a
pub that is just as famous
for the crowd and ladies
nights on Wednesdays as for
its delicious food. I just
needed one shot of the dish
to get hooked to it and since
this is the first dish that I
order for at 10 D, I am too
full to try out other dishes
on the menu.

BEYOND COFFEE

Coffee shops are unlikely
joints to look for sumptuous
lasagnas but Beyond Coffee
is an exception. Layer upon
layer of soft buttery pasta
with the delicious combination of juicy seasoned tomatoes mixed with ground
meat perfectly seasoned
with softened onions, lamb
lasagna is a dish that one
must try at Beyond Coffee.

Lovers of the golden brew gathered at Taj Krishna to pay
tribute to the most elegant drink of all.

Savour the spirit
ARUN KOSHY PHILIP

arun.k@postnoon.com
“Too much of anything is
bad, but too much of good
whiskey is barely enough.”
Mark Twain
o one could have
come up with a
better line for the
golden brew. And
no wonder the
American great was quoted
while welcoming the guests
to the evening of whisky
appreciation with Sandeep
Arora at Taj Krishna.
The gathering at the
Grand Ball Room oozed with
bonhomie as friends and
acquaintances caught up
with each other. Eventually,
one could hear from every
cluster, discussions about
what lay in store for those
who have appreciated the
drink all their lives.
“I have been a whiskylover for the last two decades.
But I am curious to find out
what this ‘appreciation business’ is,” said a prominent
businessman, savouring a
welcome drink.
We didn’t have to stay
curious for much longer as
we were ushered to the venue
and shortly Sandeep was
introduced to the audience.
The seasoned man of
spirits that he is, Sandeep
put everyone at ease with his
sparkling wit and crystal
clear description. The age of
the whisky is crucial as it
determines the feel, flavour
and potency of the drink, he
explained.

N

Clear like
water when distilled, whisky
acquires its aroma,
colour and flavour during
the period it is ‘aged’ in
casks. As it ages, distinct
flavours develop as the drink
transforms from mellow to
soft to robust by 12 years and
achieves the perfect sublime
identity at 18 years.
The law in Scotland
requires a minimum ageing
of three years before the
whisky can be bottled. Once
transferred to a bottle, the
ageing stops, Sandeep adds.
The first spirit to be
appreciated, a 17-year-old
Ballantine’s, certified the
world’s best blended scotch
whisky, was introduced.

Tips from the master
n

Right amount of
dilution releases the
true flavours and too
much kills it.

n

Use ice judiciously for
the same reason.

n

Be liberal in drinking
water to pre-empt
queasy mornings and
hangovers.

“To appreciate a whisky
right, one should gently swirl
the liquor in the glass for a
few seconds before drawing
in the aroma. A quick sniff
would smell of only the
escaping alcohol vapour and
would prevent you from identifying the true signature
aroma,” said Sandeep.
He went on to clarify
about the world of single

malts and blended whiskys.
A single malt is made
from water and malted
barley at a single distillery. Single malts
are mixed in different proportions
to create blended whiskys.

“Every
malt is a discovery of a
taste and a journey,” he
says as he introduces a
12-year-old Glenlivet to
us. It is manufactured
by a distillery that was
the first legal commercial production in
1823. True to the legacy, one can feel the
woody flavour and
smoothness. Irish
whiskies are a tad
different, but equally rich, he says.
After being
guided through few
fine samples,
Sandeep introduces
another of royal
stature — an 18-year-old
Chivas Regal. It is blend of
20 rare malts and 85
whiskys and the taste takes
you on a journey through
its origins, heritage and
components.
With 200 million cases
consumed annually, the
highest in the world, it is
sure there’s going to be a
large following for whisky
in India.

7. Stuff the mixture in the potatoes.
8. Cut capsicum, and cover the opening of the potatoes with a toothpick.
9. Arrange the potatoes in a greased
plate, sprinkle oil and bake it, occasionally basting with butter.
10.Cut them into halves sprinkle with
chat masala, chopped coriander
and serve with lemon wedges.

Chef’s note
n

This dish can be done in a nonstick pan. It's a tasty dish with
rich nutrients and full of carbs.

Contact
n Mobile: 91-9441282318
n Residence: 91-40-23356947

And now, like us on

https://www.facebook.com/
Noorkitchen

18

HISTORY
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

September 7

September 3

September 6

1783 — America officially
became a free nation, with
representatives of the United
States, Great Britain, France
and Spain signing the Treaty of
Paris. Britain formally
recognised the independence
of its 13 former colonies.

1986 —
Desmond
Tutu is
appointed
the archbishop of
Cape
Town,
becoming
the first
black man
to head
South
Africa's
Anglican
Church.

September 8
1974 — In a controversial move,
US President Gerald Ford pardons his disgraced predecessor,
Richard Nixon, for any crimes he
may have committed or
participated in while in office.

1522 — One of explorer
Ferdinand Magellan's ships —
the Vittoria — arrives in Spain,
thus completing the first
successful circumnavigation of
the globe.

September 4
1886 — Apache chief
Geronimo surrenders to US
government troops, the last
Indian warrior to do so. It
signalled the end of the Indian
wars in America, which were
fought to protect the lands of
the Native Americans.

September 6
1997 — An estimated 2.5 billion people
across the globe watch Princess Diana's
funeral procession on television, while
hundreds of thousands gathered in
London to watch her coffin being carried
to Westminster Abbey.

September 4

September 9
1976 — Chinese communist
leader Mao Zedong dies at the
age of 82. Chairman Mao led
the Chinese people through a
long revolution and ruled the
country's communist government since its inception in 1949
till his death.

September 5
1972 — Six members of an
Arab terrorist group called
Black September walked
into the Olympic village in
Munich Germany and took nine
Israeli athletes hostage. Two
Israelis were killed. The plan to
rescue the hostages went awry,
causing the terrorists to kill
all of them the next day.

1972 — US
swimmer Mark
Spitz wins his
seventh Olympic
gold, six in the
1972 Games,
making him the
man with the
most Olympic
golds in a single
Games. His
achievement
was surpassed
only in 2008 by
swimmer
Michael Phelps.

September 5
1986 — Pan Am Flight 73 was
hijacked by four armed men of
militant group Abu Nidal. Twenty
passengers were killed during the
hijacking, 13 of them Indians and
the rest from US, Pakistan and
Mexico.

19

SPOTLIGHT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

An arty evening
For art-lovers in the city, Muse Art Gallery was the
place to be when PIETA, a Vista of Vivid Art Voyage, an
exhibition of the works of 17 artists including Praneet
Soi and Rahul Mukherjee, was launched. Spotted were
actors RaNa, Lakshmi Manchu and Manoj Manchu.

The Parinaya Wedding Fair was inaugurated on Saturday by
actress Manasa at Sri Satya Sai Nigamagamam in Sri Nagar
Colony. The fair offers designer blouses, diamond jewellery,
accessories and other wedding-related items under one roof.

7

8

9

10

11

Dazzling the city

Sridevi looked every bit the diva when she turned up at PVR for
the launch of Telugu trailer of her upcoming movie English
Vinglish on Saturday. Priya Anand who also plays a part in the
movie was spotted at the do.

20

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

AN ODE TO POWERSTAR'S
STAR POWER
Baba Sehgal, a self-confessed fan of Pawan
Kalyan, talks about the song he composed for
the actor, the charisma Pawan Kalyan exudes
and what “Pawanism” means to him.
HEMANTH KUMAR

hemanth.k@postnoon.com

A

conversation with Baba Sehgal
is an experience in itself.
Although he doesn’t rap as he
talks, the sheer energy with
which he pours his heart out
about everything we ask him, gives a
glimpse of his singing career which
began almost two decades ago. He confesses that his career is going great guns
these days, thanks to some of the recent
hits in Telugu and Tamil. “People have
begun calling me as Power singer ever
since I sang the title track for Pawan
Kalyan’s Gabbar Singh. It feels great,”
Baba Sehgal says. He’s an ardent admirer
of Pawan Kalyan and having sung two
hit tracks in Jalsa and Gabbar Singh,
Baba Sehgal confesses that Pawan
Kalyan’s fans have been very supportive
of him. “This is the reason why I thought
of composing
a song for
Pawan

Kalyan. I have named it as ‘Power Song’
and the lyrics are written completely
from the perspective of his fans,” he
says.
As Pawan Kalyan turns 42 today, it’s
still an enigma how his star power at box
office hasn’t diminished a bit over the
years. Having delivered a blockbuster
already earlier this year, his upcoming
film Cameraman Ganga Tho Ramababu
is expected to repeat the success. Ask
Baba Sehgal about what he thinks of
Pawan Kalyan, he says, “His charisma
attracts everyone. He’s very clear about
what he wants to do. In the last few
weeks, I have interacted with several fans
of Pawan Kalyan who told me a lot about
his charity works, style and the fact that
his fan base is still strong, despite not
delivering a hit for 10 years is unbelievable. That’s when I understood the true
meaning of ‘Pawanism’. It’s about a set of
idelogies, inspired from Pawan Kalyan’s
life, which his fans follow. It’s almost like
a religion.”
So what’s the song going to be like?
“We are not trying to glorify Pawan
Kalyan. I have kept the lyrics simple and
the music will be a mix of Bhangra and
South Indian music. This is the first time
I have composed the song on an actor and
since I like Pawan Kalyan more than any
other actor in South, I worked quite hard
on the song. I am confident that this is
going to be bigger hit than anything I
have done before,” Baba Sehgal says
adding, “I want people to get goosepimples when they listen to my song.”
Amen.

21

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Big B gets conscious in wife’s presence

M

egastar Amitabh
Bachchan, who will be
seen with wife Jaya
Bachchan in Bhojpuri film
Ganga Devi, says there is lot of
restriction when his wife is on
the sets and he gets conscious
in her presence.
“When your wife is on the
sets with you, then your
behaviour also changes, there
are lots of restrictions, there is
always discipline on the sets or

LARA
DUTTA:
Chalo Dilli
sequel?
Not any
time soon

A

ctress Lara Dutta says its
too early to talk about the
sequel to her debut production Chalo Dilli as the film
is still in its scripting phase. She
says she will go ahead with the
sequel only if the story is better
than the original.
“There is lot of speculation of
the sequel to Chalo Dilli. We’ve got
writers working on the story. (But) I
would put my name and hard work
behind it only if the story comes
out really better than the earlier
one,” Lara told IANS.
“I think sequels are very tricky
to do. If you don’t have anything
better than the first one, you
shouldn't do it,” she added.
Chalo Dilli, which released in
2011, marked the former beauty
queen’s foray into movie production
under her banner Bheegi Basanti
Productions. The film featured Lara
and Vinay Pathak in lead roles and
won critical acclaim.
For now, the actress has
wrapped up Bejoy Nambiar’s David
and is now working on two scripts,
which will again be produced by
her.
“I am busy with my production
house Bheegi Basanti. We are right
now working on two scripts. One is
likely to go on floors in February
next year, while the other by the end
of next year,” said Lara, who is the
mother of seven-month-old Saira,
her daughter with tennis ace
Mahesh Bhupathi.
The actress was here Friday
night to inaugurate an innovatively
designed workplace of US-based
travel website.
IANS

else when you go back home,
the situation goes out of control,” a laughing Amitabh told
reporters during the music
launch of the film Friday.
Amitabh plays a key role in
his makeup man-turned-producer Deepak Sawant’s film,
which is about reservation for
women in elected bodies.
He acted earlier in Bhojpuri
Ganga and Gangotri, which did
well at the box office. Amitabh

says Sawant is like family. “I
am glad to be part of the film.
When he approached me for this
film, I did it without hesitation.
I know him for 30 to 35 years.”
“He is my make-up man, he
takes care of my face and it
was my duty to give him something in return. The best part
of working with them (Sawant)
is that they finish shooting for
30 to 35 scenes in a day so that I
don’t have any problem.” IANS

Barfi was like
dumb charades
for me: Ranbir

W

ith no dialogues for him in
Barfi, actor
Ranbir Kapoor said
the film was like a game of dumb
charades for him.
He plays the role of a deaf-mute
person in the film.
“I enjoyed playing this character.
There were no dialogues. I used to go
on the set, play dumb charades and
come back,” Ranbir said.
The actor said that it was very
important for him that the audience
was able to relate to his character and
this was something which he kept in
mind while shooting. He said that
his director Anurag Basu gave him
a lot of freedom. “I was frustrated that I didn’t even say one dialogue. A Hindi film hero wants
to have a dialogue or sing
songs, but it was a fun experience. But I had a lot of freeIANS
dom on the set.”

E

‘Emraan is my
mentor’

sha Gupta has revealed that Emraan Hashmi is her
industry “mentor”. The Jannat 2 co-stars appear
opposite each other in the upcoming Raaz 3.
She told Mumbai Mirror: “I love Emraan. I was really
scared of him during Jannat 2, where he used to give his
scenes like a piece of cake and I’d just look at him
tongue-tied. He is really sweet, quite like my mentor and
he has given me a lot of tips.” Gupta has previously said
that she is in “awe” of fellow Raaz 3 actress Bipasha
Basu. The erotic horror film centres on rivalry between
Basu’s fading star and an industry newcomer, played by
Gupta. Director Mahesh Bhatt recently claimed that the
film reflects the older actress’s real life experiences.

22

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Chitrangada liked original
lyrics of Kafirana

L

yrics of Chitrangada
Singh’s item number
Kafirana from justreleased Joker has been
changed, but the actress
says that she liked the
original lyrics much better. The lyrics have been
changed from “Fakht
you” to “Just you” to
avoid any controversy.
“Personally, I like the original version. I know it’s a bit
naughty, but the idea was for it

R

Aamir Khan on
Time cover as
India’s ‘first
superstar-activist’
A

amir Khan’s hugely successful TV show
Satyamev Jayate, that
focuses on burning
issues facing India and ways of
tackling them, has landed him
on the cover of Time magazine
as India’s “first superstaractivist”.
“He’s breaking the
Bollywood mould by tackling
India’s social evils. Can one
actor change a nation?” asks the
blurb on the cover of the Asia
edition of the issue of the US
magazine, which features a
close-up of the actor looking
intensely into the camera.
Tracing the rise of Aamir
Khan with the 1988 blockbuster
hit Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak,
Time’s Bobby Ghosh noted over
the past decade the 47-year-old
actor has acted in, directed and
produced a string of “movies
that artfully straddle the
demands of popular cinema and
that desire for grace”.
“Now, with his groundbreaking TV show Satyamev Jayate
(Truth Alone Prevails), he has
dispensed with commercial considerations to indulge his conscience,” writes Ghosh. “With it,
Khan has taken on the mantle of
the country’s first superstaractivist.”

“The show, in equal parts
chat and journalism, casts an
unblinking spotlight on some of
India’s ugliest social problems,”

Now, with his groundbreaking TV show
Satyamev Jayate
(Truth Alone Prevails),
he has dispensed with
commercial considerations to indulge his
conscience.
Time’s Bobby Ghosh

Ghosh says of the show of
which Khan is “creator, producer and host, and he has invested
it with his star power — and his
credibility.”
“It’s a ballsy move, and
potentially jeopardizes his status
as the beloved idol of millions,”
writes Ghosh, since the subjects
his show tackles “are precisely
the sorts of harsh realities from
which many of Khan’s fans seek
escape in his movies.”
“Can a movie star affect the
mores of a nation of 1.2 billion?”
asks Ghosh and suggests “It
might just be possible in India,
where a national obsession with
cinema, unparalleled in the
world, gives popular actors
an influence beyond the
imagination of Hollywood
scriptwriters.”
As Khan assesses the impact
of his first series, Time suggests,
“Whatever Khan chooses to do
next in his quest for grace,
there’s a good chance it will lift
India a little closer to what he —
and fellow Indians — would wish
their country and society to be."
Aamir Khan is the third
Indian actor to be featured on
the cover of Time magazine.
Aishwarya Rai made it to the
cover in 2003 and Parveen Babi
IANS
was featured in 1976.

ockstar actress Nargis
Fakhri has signed on
as brand ambassador
of HCL Infosystems’s computing products.
As part of the deal,
Nargis has done a photo
shoot for the brand. It will
be used later.
She will endorse HCL’s
computing products — ME
branded Laptops and
Tablets, HCL Desktops
and Beanstalk All-InOne’s — across various
platforms and will also
feature in upcoming multimedia ad campaigns.
She is “ecstatic”.
“HCL’s gadgets are
trendy, very user friendly
and absolute value for
money products. It is a
brand that has a legacy of
bringing innovative products keeping in mind the
Indian market and I am
looking forward to
this association
with a home
grown brand,”
Nargis said in a
statement. The
brand wants to
“reach out to
newer customers
and markets”
through their
association with
Nargis.
“Nargis
Fakhri’s
sophistication, style
and cool
quotient
superbly

Kashmir
makes SRK
relax after
years

not to be offensive. But I
like the original better,”
she said. Talking about
the censor board’s cuts,
the actress feels that some
of their actions are necessary, others not required.
“I think till a limit,
censorship is right. There
is too much exposure. You
think of the kids most of the
times, they should not have
access to such things. But we
push it a bit too much.”
IANS

Nargis
Fakhri
to endorse
computing
products
personifies our brand. The
association with Nargis, I
am sure will add to our
image as a brand that not
only spells value for
money, but also that offers
next generation stylish
computing devices,” said
Princy Bhatnagar, vice
president and head
Consumer
Computing, HCL
Infosystems.
IANS

S

hooting for Yash Chopra’s
yet untitled movie in a
south Kashmir hill station
seems to have helped Shah Rukh
Khan unwind from a boring routine of lights and camera.
“Slept for 10 hours after a
long time. God I feel rested...
even my beard seems fresh,”
Shah Rukh posted on Twitter.
In another post, he wrote:
“Phone back on silent... beard
dyed... teeth brushed... feel like a
million bucks, but if I don’t rush
for shoot won’t get my 100 bucks
per dium.”
“After years of keeping it
silent... yesterday I put a ring on
my phone. Does it mean now we
have a serious relationship?” he
IANS
tweeted.

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

23

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

24

25

CINEMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Maria Sharapova calls
off engagement
M

aria Sharapova doesn’t need any advice
on how to kill it at the US Open, but the
tennis star could possibly use a little help
in the love department.
During Maria’s post-match news conference
at the US Open on Friday, Sharapova confirmed
that she and former Los Angeles Lakers guard
Sasha Vujacichave called off their engagement.
“It’s been since the end of spring,”
Sharapova said. “I was waiting for someone to
actually ask me that question.”
And although Vujacic reportedly broke the
news to the Italian tabloids, Sharapova explains
that she has always been a private public figure.
“I have never really been the person to
announce things. I never announced when we
were together or never announced we were
engaged. I never have in any of my previous
relationships, as well.”
She continues, adding that the decision to
split from Vujacic was “challenging.”
“It was a really nice period of time for both
of us, but our career schedules just made it
extremely difficult to see each other with the
travelling and especially his career move to
Turkey. But we have a tremendous amount of
respect for each other. I still would love to call
him as a friend. We spent really great years
together.”
Vujacic has been playing for a professional
basketball team in Turkey. He and Sharapova
dated for nearly three years.

Duff treats fans
to pic of baby
H

ilary Duff treated fans to yet another
adorable picture of her son Luca, this
time showing her tiny tyke lounging on
a yellow blanket.
“Luca!,” the actress tweeted Thursday,
along with the Instagram snap of her fivemonth-old little one.
Singer-actor Duff recently referred to
motherhood as “the most incredible thing,”
telling E! News in June, “it softens you so
much. I feel like a big mushy ball.” “Whoa I
have a cute baby! #crazyinlove,” Duff tweeted
on Tuesday.

Bieber
and
his
fake
guns

I

n a photo taken by an actor on the
set of Selena Gomez’s upcoming
flick Feed the Dog, Justin Bieber
was snapped posing with a fake gun
and pointing it at the actor’s dad.
And Gomez was right there for
the photo op, smiling in the pic.
After the photos were posted on

I said to this train driver ''I want
to go to Paris". He said ''Eurostar?'' I said, ''I've been on telly
but I'm no Dean Martin''.

A three-legged dog walks into
a saloon in the Old West. He
slides up to the bar and
announces: ''I'm looking for the
man who shot my paw.''

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak
were chilly. But when they lit a
fire in the craft, it sank, proving
once and for all that you can't
have your kayak and heat it.
I've got a friend who's fallen in
love with two school bags, he's
bisatchel.

I tried water polo but my horse
drowned.
I'll tell you what I love doing
more than anything: trying
to pack myself in a small
suitcase. I can hardly
contain myself.

ctor Gerard Butler
is reportedly dating Romanian
model-actress Madalina
Ghenea. The Scottish
actor reportedly got smitten by the European
beauty when she was hired to help Butler promote a new razor for the
Dubai-based Super Max
brand this spring, reports contactmusic.com.
The couple was first
linked in May, but
Ghenea denied the
claims at the time, stating, “Gerard is a friend
of mine. We are friends
and nothing more.”
However, reports
suggest that the relationship has since developed
into something more
intimate. The actor’s
representative has
refused to comment on
the new romance
IANS
reports.

H

eidi Klum recently went
on an Italian getaway to
enjoy the sun, the sand — and
possibly a new man?
While on the family getaway
to Sardinia, the Project Runway
host, 39, was spotted getting close
to her bodyguard of four years,
Martin Kristen, sparking rumours
that the two are dating.

Not exactly, a
friend close to Klum tells
PEOPLE.
“It’s complicated,” says the
friend. “Their relationship is
hard to define.”
For Klum, who announced she
was separating from her husband of
seven years singer Seal in January,
“this has been a difficult time,” says
the pal. “Her inner circle of people
she trusts is getting smaller and
smaller and he is her No. 1 confidante.”
During their Italian vacation,
Klum and Kristen weren’t alone.
They were seen playing on the
beach with Klum’s children — Leni,
8, Henry, 6½, Johan, 5½, and Lou,
2½. Klum’s parents, Erna and
Gunther, were also there.
Kristen has also been
spotted around New York City with
Klum as she filmed Project Runway
this summer.
In terms of finding a new husband, however, Klum has said it’s
not a top priority. “I don’t know if
I’ll get married again,” Klum told a
German publication in July.
But she later added: “Although I
really enjoyed being married. I’m a
dreamer.”

Rihanna eyes
role in
Scarface
remake

S

inger Rihanna is
reportedly keen on
bagging a role in the
remake of 1983 film
Scarface. The 24-year-old
wants to play the role of
Elvira Hancock, essayed
by actress Michelle
Pfeiffer in the original
movie. “Rihanna loves
Scarface. Some of her
music videos have been
based on Michelle’s character, Elvira,”
thesun.co.uk quoted a
source as saying.
“She knows all the
words and even has her
walk perfected,” the
source added.
The singer made her
acting debut with actor
Liam Neeson in Battleship
earlier this year. She will
soon be seen in Evan
Goldberg’s End Of The
World and is making a
debut in voice over with
IANS
Happy Smekday!

29

SPORTS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Defence with a bang

Smyth is fastest Paralympian

Penn State lose to Ohio

B

I

P

lade Runner Oscar Pistorius on
Saturday began the defence of his
three Paralympic sprint titles with a
bang, breaking the world record in the T44
200m to qualify for the final. The 25-yearold, who earned his nickname as he runs on
carbon fibre prosthetics, stormed round the
bend and pushed through to clock
21.30sec, just weeks after becoming the
first double-amputee to compete in the
Olympics.

reland’s Jason Smyth on Saturday retained his T13 100m title, breaking his own world record in the process to become the
fastest Paralympian in history. The 25-yearold, who trains with US sprint star Tyson Gay and is visually impaired, clocked 10.46sec
to break the 10.54sec mark he set in Friday’s qualifying heats. Luis Felipe Guttierez of
Cuba won silver in 11.02sec, one-hundredth
of a second ahead of South African bronze
medallist Jonathan Ntutu.

enn State suffered a 24-14 upset loss
to Ohio University on Saturday in the
Nittany Lions’ first gridiron American
football game since the child sex abuse
conviction of ex-assistant coach Jerry
Sandusky. It was the first game for the storied collegiate American football program
since former NFL New England Patriots
assistant coach Bill O’Brien took over as
coach, replacing iconic Joe Paterno, who
died at age 85 last January.

LONDON: Britain’s Ellie
Simmonds on Saturday made
doubts about Victoria Arlen’s
eligibility immaterial on
Saturday, as she retained her S6
400m freestyle crown by smashing the US swim queen’s world
record.
The 17-year-old, a double
gold medallist at the Beijing
Olympics four years ago at the
age of just 13, proved too strong
for her rival in the final 50m,
pulling away to touch home in
a new global best of 5mins
19.17secs. Arlen secured silver
in 5:20.18 — more than four seconds inside the 5:24.46 benchmark she set in June — with
China’s Song Lingling taking
bronze.
“I’m so pleased to touch and
get a world record and a fivesecond PB. I knew it was going
to be so tough leading into it
with Victoria being on form
and I knew I had to give it my
everything and give it my all,”
said Simmonds.
“That last 50 hurt, it just
killed me. I knew that I had no
regrets, I just gave it my all but
I’m just so pleased. When I
touched I had no energy left. It
was one of the toughest races

of my life so far.”
Arlen, also 17, said she was
pleased with the result and said
it was a spur for the future.
“I couldn’t have asked for
more on my first big meet... It’s
motivational, she (Simmonds)
did amazing, the better person
won. I’m very happy for her.
Especially with it being her
home turf,” she added.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had earlier
freed the American teenager to
race after question marks hung
over her eligibility in the race.
She was declared “non-eligible”

earlier this week due to doubts
over her classification.
She was re-instated on
appeal but still faced the threat
of being stripped of the gold
medal had she won.
But the IPC said in a statement that she will “continue to
compete in the S6 class, with a
review date set for August
2013”.
“Due to the different technicality of stroke required in
breaststroke a similar observation in competition will take
place in her first SB race,” it
added.

Improve car, Alonso tells Ferrari
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS,
BELGIUM: Championship
leader Fernando Alonso qualified sixth for Ferrari on
Saturday for Sunday’s Belgian
Grand Prix and then warned
Ferrari that they need to
improve the car to keep him on
top of the title race.
The 31-year-old Spaniard
said the team should not rely
on rivals’ mistakes to retain
the lead in the championship.
Alonso wound up sixth but
will start fifth following
Venezuelan Pastor
Maldonado’s grid penalty for
baulking Nico Hulkenberg.
He said: “I think the aim is
to improve the car a lot
because we know that today, of
our rivals, we are ahead
because one had gearbox problems, Webber, and another,

Categories one to 10 are
allocated to swimmers with a
physical disability. The lower
the number, the more severe
the impairment. The letter
indicates the stroke.
Arlen was diagnosed with
the neurological disorder postinfectious transverse myelitis,
which affects the spinal cord, at
the age of 12 and was in a vegetative state for two years.
Simmonds was born with
achondroplasia, a form of
dwarfism.
Another US swimmer facing classification difficulties
was Mallory Weggemann, who
saw herself moved up a category as she prepared to swim
seven events at the Games.
She said this week that she
had “lost faith” in the system
but on Saturday reached the
final of the women’s SB7 100m
breaststroke.
Among the winners on
Saturday were Brazil’s Andre
Brasil, who picked up his third
gold medal of the Games in the
men’s S10 100m butterfly, and
New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe,
who triumphed in the women’s
equivalent.
Pascoe broke the world record that she set in the heats, two days after doing the same in
the S10 200m individual medley.

narrow line we are too slow. So
if we want to win the championship we need to be quicker
and improve the car.
AFP

Postnoon News
feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: Suneendra Sports Club-Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club (SSC-HPRC) defeated
Agram Riding and Polo
Academy-Deccan Polo and
Riding Club (ARPA–DPRC) by
four goals to two and a half
goals in the first match the
Bison Trophy for the Polo
Season at the Bison Polo Club in
Secunderabad on Saturday.
Due to the differences in the
team handicap, ARPA–DPRC
began the match with an advantage of one and a half goals.
But this did not detter the
players of SSC-HPRC as they
hammered goal after goal to see
their side sail to safety. Chaitanya of SSC-HPRC scored a goal in
the second minute of the first
chukkerand also in the seventh
minute of the same chukker.
In the first minute of the second chukker, SSC-HPRC’s Khadir Siddiqui, scored a goal to put
their opponents in a tight spot.
But then ARPA–DPRC’s
Abdullah hit a superb goal in the
second chukker.
But all hope was dispelled
for ARPA–DPRC when SSCHPRC’s Chaitanya smashed the
final goal of the match within
the second minute of the final
chukker.

Power claims pole
position in Baltimore
BALTIMORE,

Hamilton, did not make the
best of his car today.
“And, of course, some circuits are better for some cars
and some for others but on that

SSC-HPRC
defeat
ARPA-DPRC

MARYLAND:

IndyCar series leader Will Power
of Australia won pole position
for the Baltimore IndyCar Grand
Prix on Saturday, positioning
himself for a run at a second
straight victory here.
By capturing pole with a lap
of 1min 17.9750sec on the 2.04mile, 12-turn circuit Power
earned one bonus point, padding
his lead atop the standings to 37
points over American Ryan
Hunter-Reay, who qualified 13th.
If Power leaves Baltimore
with a lead of 54 points or more
over his closest rival, he will
clinch his first IndyCar championship.
He has been runner-up in the
series to Scotland’s Dario
Franchitti the past two seasons.

“It’s important to get the pole
— it’s another point,” Power said.
“It gives us the best potential at
the start, and we can control our
destiny.” It’s Power’s fifth pole
position of the season and his
third in a row. He started from
pole and finished second in each
AFP
of the past two races.

30

SPORTS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Kiwis take control
After restricting India to 353, 12 short of their first innings score of
365, thanks to Tim Southee’s career-best 7 for 64, New Zealand reinforced their position in the second innings.
Syed Shoaib

While Ashwin is proving
to be more than capable of
handling the responsibility of
the Indian spin attack, his batting it is that is demanding
more respect. An opportunity
of a longer stint at the crease,
by way of skipper MS Dhoni
lowering himself in the batting
order may well prove to be
useful for India. A genuine
allrounder makes a lot of
difference to the outcome
of a match.
And it is this missed opportunity that made the difference
in the morning of the third day’s
play. The end result was that
New Zealand managed a lead,
even if slender, over India in the
first innings.
That meant that the tourist’s
bowler Tim Southee with a
career-best 7 for 64 became the
hero of the day.
From a healthy overnight
score of 283 for five, India could
only manage to add 70 runs to be
all out for 353, 12 runs shy of the
New Zealand first innings total
of 365.

shoaib.s@postnoon.com

W

BANGALORE: New Zealand
batsmen kept the good work
done by their bowlers going with
sensible batting in the second
innings of the second cricket
Test match being played here,
having scored 29 runs without
losing a wicket.
If Virat Kohli doesn’t stop
surprising us, R Ashwin is turning out to be a match-winner in
his own right — excelling with
both ball and bat. Everybody
might want to believe in horses
for courses; Kohli is out to disprove that. He has made this
point with outstanding performance in all three versions of
cricket.
That India is in safe hands
with the retirement of Rahul
Dravid and VVS Laxman,
the mainstay of Indian Text
cricket in the last decade or so,
there is no more doubt about,
thanks to the Delhi and Royal
Challengers Bangalore lad,
Virat Kohli.

McIlroy in lead, Woods,
Oosthuizen close in
NORTON: World No. 1 Rory

McIlroy fired a second straight
65 on Saturday for a slim halfway lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship with Louis Oosthuizen and Tiger Woods heading
the chasing pack. Northern Ireland's McIlroy had a 12-under
total of 130 after two rounds on
the par-71 TPC Boston layout.
South Africa's Oosthuizen,
was one shot back after a 65 for
131 and 14-time major champion
Woods carded a 68 for 132, where
he was joined compatriot Ryan
Moore, who also carded a 68.
McIlroy's round included an
eagle on the revamped par-five
18th -- his ninth hole of the day -where he stuck his approach
shot eight feet (two meters) from
the pin.
He had two bogeys on his
inward nine, finding the water at

the par-five second for a six and
also bogeying the par-three
third. But he bounced back with
birdies at four and five.
"Everything seemed to work
pretty well out there," McIlroy
said. "I felt like I drove the ball a
bit better today and hit more
fairways, which gave me some
more opportunities to make
birdies.
"And I was putting well
enough to take a few of those,"
he added. "Yeah, pleased with
where I am and looking forward
to the weekend."
Overnight leader Seung-Yul
Noh of South Korea had an even
par 71 that included an eagle and
a double-bogey and was in a
group of five players on 133 that
also included South Africa's 2011
Masters champion Charl
AFP
Schwartzel (65).

ABU DHABI: Australia skipper Michael Clarke admitted
on Saturday that he had been
wrong in choosing to bat first
against Pakistan in the second
one-day international between
the two teams in Abu Dhabi
on Friday.
Pakistan thumped
Australia by seven wickets to
level the three-match series at
1-1, leaving the propspect of
an intriguing third match in
Sharjah on Monday. Australia
won the first match by four
wickets in Sharjah.
Clarke said that electing to
bat first after winning the toss
had backfired.
"We trained here and there
was nowhere near that much
dew, so it was certainly a surprise for all of us once we

walked out to field," Clarke
said. "So it was the wrong
decision after winning the toss
to bat first."
Sparked by a resolute 61
from Michael Hussey, Australia posted a score of 248-9 in
their 50 overs withr Pakistani
off-spinner Saeed Ajmal taking four wickets for 32 runs.

Master blaster Raonic
ready for Murray
Fireball-serving Milos Raonic (above), who blasted
29 aces on Saturday in
becoming the first Canadian in 24 years to reach the
fourth round of the US
Open, is ready to send
Andy Murray packing.

Men — 3rd round
n

n

Dave James

NEW YORK: Five-time champion Roger Federer (above) defied
32-degree heat and crushing
humidity to reach the US Open
last 16 Saturday as potential
semi-final rival Andy Murray
almost wilted in the New York
sweatshop.

Top seed Federer, bidding to
be the first six-time winner in 87
years, defeated Spanish 25th
seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4,
6-4 in a shade over two hours to
make the last 16 for the 12th successive year.
The Swiss next faces either
American 23rd seed Mardy Fish
or Gilles Simon, the French 16th

seed. In stark contrast, thirdseeded Murray, the 2008 US Open
runner-up to Federer, needed
almost four hours to clinch a 7-6
(7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over 30th-seeded Spanish lefthander Feliciano Lopez.
Olympic champion Murray
will next face 15th-seeded Milos
Raonic in the next round.

Serena into last 16,
levels sister Venus
Three-time champion
Serena Williams (above)
went level with Venus on
61 US Open career wins
when she coasted into the
fourth round on Saturday.
Williams defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-0.

Clijsters bids fans farewell
Vows it is final goodbye after mixed doubles loss in US Open.
NEW YORK: Belgium’s Kim
Clijsters (left) bid what she
vows will be a second and
final farewell to her tennisplaying career on Saturday
with a mixed doubles loss at
the US Open.
Clijsters and American
Bob Bryan were defeated by
Brazilian Bruno Soares and
Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova
6-2, 3-6, 12-10 in a secondround match on the
Grandstand stadium.
“It was an honour to be
part of this lifestyle and this
sport. I started when I was
four and had so many dreams

I have won many
beautiful things and
have so many friendships but now I have
a new chapter with
my family.
come true,” said Clijsters.
“But life goes on. Tonight
was one of the reasons why I
wanted to play mixed doubles. Tennis will always be a
part of my life and I will

always follow it.
Clijsters, who won three
US Open singles titles, said
earlier this year that this
would be her final season and
the US Open her farewell
event.
She was ousted from the
singles tournament in the
second round by Britain’s
Laura Robson and in her first
women’s doubles match
alongside compatriot Kirsten
Flipkens.
Her final shot as a tennis
player was a netted forehand
which gave Soares and
AFP
Makarova the victory.

I hope Nadal plays this
year, says Federer
Roger Federer wants to
see injury-hit Rafael Nadal
(above) back playing this
year despite fears that his
great Spanish rival is likely
to miss the Davis Cup
semi-final and even write
off the rest of 2012.

32

SPORTS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

City too strong for QPR
Goals from Yaya Toure, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez at Eastlands
continued City’s unbeaten start to their title defence.
Ian Whittell

MANCHESTER: Reigning

We have one problem
at the moment, when
we have a chance to
score we don’t score
and after this the
game can change.

champions Manchester City
helped Italian manager Roberto
Mancini enjoy his 100th Premier
League match in charge with a 31 win at home to Queens Park
Rangers on Saturday.
Goals from Yaya Toure, Edin
Dzeko and Carlos Tevez at
Eastlands continued City’s
unbeaten start to their title
defence.
With Jose Mourinho,
manager of City’s Champions
League opponents Real Madrid,
watching from the stands, the
hosts did concede an equaliser
to Bobby Zamora in the second
half, rekindling memories of
the last time the clubs faced
each other.
Four months on from that
last extraordinary meeting
between the sides, in which

Roberto Mancini,
Man City manager

City’s 3-2 victory on the concluding day of last season brought
them their first English title in
44 years, Mancini’s men took the

lead after 15 minutes.
Following a prolonged spell
of City pressure, David Silva’s
right-wing corner was met at the

AVB still to
earn his Spurs
A late equaliser from Robert Snodgrass gave Norwich
a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
LONDON: Tottenham
manager Andre VillasBoas (right) admits his
side are suffering from
early-season anxiety problems following a third
Premier League game
without a win.
A late equaliser from
Robert Snodgrass gave
Norwich a 1-1 draw at
White Hart Lane on
Saturday and left VillasBoas still waiting for his
first win as Spurs boss.
Spurs looked set to celebrate their first three
points under the former
Chelsea manager, who
replaced the sacked Harry
Redknapp in the close-season, when new signing
Mousa Dembele came off
the bench to mark his
debut with a 68th-minute
strike.
But Snodgrass levelled
with five minutes remaining and Tottenham, who
had lost at Newcastle on
the opening day and were
held 1-1 at home to West
Bromwich Albion last
week, were booed off on
the final whistle.
“It was a different
game to last week but a
goal conceded in more or
less the same way,” Villas-

Boas said. “It is disappointing for us to suffer
again in the dying
moments of the game.
“When things happen
like this we have to work
on our concentration and
our sharpness to make
sure these situations don’t
happen again.
“It is a pity that we
have worked during the
week to try to solve it. But
it hasn’t been enough so
we will continue to pursue
it. We were not as sharp as
last week. There was a lot
of anxiety but there was a
good response.”

far post by Tevez whose firsttime volley rebounded against
Zamora with the unmarked Yaya
Toure handily-place to slot the
ball in from 10 yards out.
It was an impressive opening
from a City side which did not
include any of their five transfer
deadline day signings -0 Javi
Garcia, Matija Nastasic, Maicon,
Scott Sinclair and Richard

Carroll out of
Eng squad
LONDON: West

Ham striker Andy
Carroll has been
ruled out of
England’s World
Cup qualifiers
against Moldova
and Ukraine after
suffering a hamstring injury during
Saturday’s 3-0 win
over Fulham.
Carroll made a
strong debut for the
Hammers, but his
first appearance at
Upton Park was
marred when he
limped off midway
through the second
half.

Wright — in their starting lineup.
Indeed, City were so dominant QPR’s only relief came
when another of the home
team’s recent signings, midfielder Jack Rodwell hit a ridiculous
back-pass which almost bounced
into his own goal from half-way.
Robert Green subsequently
saved well from Silva and the
Spanish international forward
should have done better when he
took Aleksandar Kolarov’s
superb cross-field pass in his
stride but waited to shoot and
saw his effort charged down by
Fabio da Silva.
Still, given the manner of
City’s victory in last season’s
corresponding fixture, the fact it
took Mancini’s team just three
minutes to regain the lead was
no surprise. There was still plenty of City possession before the
final whistle.